What Induces Fear?

[Hear Again]

Same here. Especially my dad and his wife. They scare me. I am and always have been afraid of them. I avoid them at *all* costs. I make up excuses not to go back home to visit him and his wife, and when I am in town visiting my friends I don't tell them that I am in town. I avoid the far southside/Oak Creek area whenever I am in town since that is where they live. I spend most of my time on the north side or the lower east side. But I have not been back in town since around 2005 because I just do not have the money to do so.

I still remember seeing my dad's eyes when he is/was very angry, and that frightens me. His eyes turn very cold and a very steel blue with very tiny constricted black pupils. It made me feel very And that was over my re-arranging some of the family pictures in a multi-photo frame that he and his wife gave me shortly after I went into a foster home. I had rearranged them to include some pictures from my late mother's side of the family, since I felt they were important to me, too, and that made him very angry. When his eyes became that way, they sent cold chills down my spine, and I was very scared and frightened. Fortunately, there were too many witnesses at the place I was at, so he could not hit me or hurt me at that point, thankfully. But it scared me so much that, after he left, I put everything back in their original places so he would not get angry like that again. My dad and his wife have always frightened me no matter what the reason is. I felt like this with his eyes like that. They could also burn holes in me as well (not literally, but you know what I mean, the way they look).

I do not like angry people at all for that reason and if I see someone who looks angry I quickly walk or run in the opposite direction now. I do not like to feel every I see an angry person.

lucia,

i'm sorry this happened to you.

i feel the same way about my deceased parents. my father abused me in 3 different ways while my mother abused me in one way (i'd rather not mention how for privacy's sake). let's just say that the things my father did to me were horrible to say the least and i will NEVER forgive him for the awful things he's done. because of him and his intense anger, i will always remember his voice and how he shouted at the top of his lungs whenever he spoke to me. i hate to say this about the deceased (since my catholic upbringing always taught me never to speak ill of those who have passed away), but i think he was an evil, evil person who should never have been allowed to have children.
sometimes there are days where i hope he's rotting in h*ll for the things he did to me.

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

it's ironic you should mention the feeling of someone walking behind you because that also happens to be one of my fears. i can't *stand* the sound of someone's footsteps behind me or walking down a stairwell. whenever i hear someone behind me (or walking down the same stairwell i am), i always have to stop and let them pass before i can continue on my way. i get *very* anxious in this kind of situation -- especially since my life was threatened once.

Even during the day I do NOT like it when someone is walking behind me. It makes me very uncomfortable. I always slow down, step off to the side, and let the person pass, and then I resume walking. I can't hear them, so I feel better if I can see them.

 

[Hear Again]

I am not blind, deaf or HOH and I have alot of anxiety that is triggered by being in public places or even family gatherings for the holidays.

thank you, chris' mom. your post proves the point nika, typeingtornado and i were trying to make.

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

When people touch me on the shoulder/neck area, that scares the living daylight out of me. I usually jump up in fear. Sometimes I even scream. And anyone coming from behind me, even though I can hear them, is a sure way to scare Nika to death! <cringing at the thought>

I have a startle reflex that I've developed recently that while I am sleeping, if someone touches me, I always startle. Alarm clocks with the lamp flasher also startles me (developed recently too) but the bed shakers for the alarm clocks scares the living daylights out of me when it goes off...I jump up about 10 feet and end up on the ceiling! So I don't have bed shakers at all although I may have to get one for a fire alarm though because I am not able to use strobes for the fire clock since strobes blinds me completely, and what use are strobe fire clocks if I cannot see to get out of my house? By the time I find the door to get out of my bedroom, my home may already be engulfed in fire, and I would die anyway. Um, no thanks. I'll either get a fire alarm that's rigged with a bed shaker even though they scare me, or get a hearing dog to wake me up when the regular fire alarm goes off. Or something else tactile would work in this situation.

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

The Butterfly Effect movie (The first one, I didn't see the second one - I heard they came out with a 2nd one if I heard correctly) was so creepy. It was kind of frightening, and too weird. Whoever wrote and made this movie was sick or something. It's very unsettling, and so strange. I refuse to watch the sequel. I don't like having something in my head for weeks on end from watching something so weird, creepy, and frightening.

 

[Jiro]

I have a startle reflex that I've developed recently that while I am sleeping, if someone touches me, I always startle. Alarm clocks with the lamp flasher also startles me (developed recently too) but the bed shakers for the alarm clocks scares the living daylights out of me when it goes off...I jump up about 10 feet and end up on the ceiling! So I don't have bed shakers at all although I may have to get one for a fire alarm though because I am not able to use strobes for the fire clock since strobes blinds me completely, and what use are strobe fire clocks if I cannot see to get out of my house? By the time I find the door to get out of my bedroom, my home may already be engulfed in fire, and I would die anyway. Um, no thanks. I'll either get a fire alarm that's rigged with a bed shaker even though they scare me, or get a hearing dog to wake me up when the regular fire alarm goes off. Or something else tactile would work in this situation.

strobe helps because most people die from smoke inhalation and they cannot see where to go. with strobe flashing next to exit door, you'll be able to find your way out in thick smoke. sounds like everything scares you so you should get a place with water sprinkler like mine.

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

no, my eyes aren't completely closed all the time. they're open a tiny bit, but not enough that you can tell. when you look at me, it looks like my eyes are closed.

Oh okay. I was just wondering. I have seen blind people who walk around with their eyes open, some with sunglasses all the time, some without any sunglasses, and some blind people who walk around with closed eyes without sunglasses. So I was just wondering, I hope you didn't mind that I asked. Do you also wear sunglasses, too? I'm just wondering.

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

i'm curious about this as well -- especially since you mentioned that the subjects mentioned in your psychology class trigger your flashbacks.

They do trigger me, but not to the point that I have flashbacks. They just bring back bad memories. Do you consider bad memories to be flashbacks? I honestly don't know.

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

lucia,

i'm sorry this happened to you.

i feel the same way about my deceased parents. my father abused me in 3 different ways while my mother abused me in one way (i'd rather not mention how for privacy's sake). let's just say that the things my father did to me were horrible to say the least and i will NEVER forgive him for the awful things he's done. because of him and his intense anger, i will always remember his voice and how he shouted at the top of his lungs whenever he spoke to me. i hate to say this about the deceased (since my catholic upbringing always taught me never to speak ill of those who have passed away), but i think he was an evil, evil person who should never have been allowed to have children.
sometimes there are days where i hope he's rotting in h*ll for the things he did to me.

I hear you, and I am sorry these things happened to you, too. *hugs*

 

[Jiro]

lucia,

i'm sorry this happened to you.

i feel the same way about my deceased parents. my father abused me in 3 different ways while my mother abused me in one way (i'd rather not mention how for privacy's sake). let's just say that the things my father did to me were horrible to say the least and i will NEVER forgive him for the awful things he's done. because of him and his intense anger, i will always remember his voice and how he shouted at the top of his lungs whenever he spoke to me. i hate to say this about the deceased (since my catholic upbringing always taught me never to speak ill of those who have passed away), but i think he was an evil, evil person who should never have been allowed to have children.
sometimes there are days where i hope he's rotting in h*ll for the things he did to me.

forgive me but the father and mother above are your real parents?

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

strobe helps because most people die from smoke inhalation and they cannot see where to go. with strobe flashing next to exit door, you'll be able to find your way out in thick smoke. sounds like everything scares you so you should get a place with water sprinkler like mine.

Strobe fire alarms blind me completely. I can't see anything at all. I found out this problem when I was 16, when I had come back to the school for the deaf after being away for several years and they had already replaced the older, weaker strobe alarms from the 1970s with newer, stronger ones, and I was sleeping and at like 3 or 4 am the alarms went off, and I could not see a damn thing. Took me 5 minutes to find the door so I could get out. I was the last student to get out of the dorm. So, for me, strobe fire alarms are completely useless. I can't use water sprinklers because this is a rental and it would ruin the carpet, and it would ruin the computer and the TVs if it was a false alarm.

 

[Jiro]

Strobe fire alarms blind me completely. I can't see anything at all. I found out this problem when I was 16, when I had come back to the school for the deaf after being away for several years and they had already replaced the older, weaker strobe alarms from the 1970s with newer, stronger ones, and I was sleeping and at like 3 or 4 am the alarms went off, and I could not see a damn thing. Took me 5 minutes to find the door so I could get out. I was the last student to get out of the dorm. So, for me, strobe fire alarms are completely useless. I can't use water sprinklers because this is a rental and it would ruin the carpet, and it would ruin the computer and the TVs if it was a false alarm.

no you cannot install water sprinklers yourself. I mean to move to rental buildings that do have water sprinklers. Water sprinkler is activated only by direct contact of fire. It's not connected to fire alarm or whatsoever so it can't come on if there's false alarm.

Maybe you want to put some kind of semi-transparent cloth over strobe in your room so that it doesn't blind you. However if there are many strobes along the hallway... I suppose you should wear sunglasses when exiting the building?

 

[ncff07]

It would depend on the sprinkler system... some have the sprinkler heads that have to reach a certain degree to activate like the frangible bulb or fusible link sprinkler heads. some are rigged to activate by a smoke/fire sensor. there are many set ups to how it would activate and depends on what is installed. all ive seen have had strobes, not sure of its possible but there are LED lights now that are bright but dont have the burst type flash like a strobe does but should wake someone up. but i dont know if its used or could be utilized for a fire alarm system.

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

no you cannot install water sprinklers yourself. I mean to move to rental buildings that do have water sprinklers. Water sprinkler is activated only by direct contact of fire. It's not connected to fire alarm or whatsoever so it can't come on if there's false alarm.

Maybe you want to put some kind of semi-transparent cloth over strobe in your room so that it doesn't blind you. However if there are many strobes along the hallway... I suppose you should wear sunglasses when exiting the building?

I can't afford to move. And besides, I've spoken to Hear Again in PMs awhile ago, and there are tactile fire alarms that I can use. I know bed shakers scare me, but that doesn't matter in a case of fire anyway, so I can use that, especially since there are not going to be fire drills nor prank alarms like at Gallaudet. I just live in my own apartment so a bed shaker rigged up to a fire alarm will work, if DARS is willing to pay for one.

 

[Hear Again]

I can't afford to move. And besides, I've spoken to Hear Again in PMs awhile ago, and there are tactile fire alarms that I can use. I know bed shakers scare me, but that doesn't matter in a case of fire anyway, so I can use that, especially since there are not going to be fire drills nor prank alarms like at Gallaudet. I just live in my own apartment so a bed shaker rigged up to a fire alarm will work, if DARS is willing to pay for one.

lucia,

if you need any specific models of tactile signaling devices, let me know.

 

[Frisky Feline]

I'm surprised no one said clowns yet!

Didn't anyone see Stephen King's IT? Saw it when I was 9. I'll NEVER forget. Coincidently, Hurricane Andrew came to Miami a few days after seeing IT. I spent a lot of time awake at night because its too hot to sleep and it's too dark to do anything else (no electricity/AC for weeks), so imagine being terrified of a clown that likes to kill kids during this time!

oh my god you must have been experiencing through it when no electricity/ac were on after you saw IT!! :Ohno: it was real bad. IT has been on my mind since i was a kid.


Yes i am afraid of CLOWN too but i can control myself when i see other clowns at the circus. :faint:

Recently we took kids out to the ringling bros circus. I was surprised to see the clowns that they wore more sparklings, and less freaky colors. They are into more of comic acts than old ones. i did laugh hard at the clowns how they acted were so hilarious. My fears were not bad but i know if i get close to the clowns and then my fear would be returned.

 

[Hear Again]

speaking of stephen king books, the one that frightened me the most was misery. everytime i read about nurse annie (and saw her in the movie by the same title), it sent chills up and down my spine.

 

[Liebling:-)))]

Firework...

Firework affected my forehead near right eyes at 25 years ago. Lucky it doesn't affect my right eye but lost half of eye-brow and lashes... and also no scar on my forehead to right eye... I got special burnt treatment... After that, I can't go near firework... I alway stayed inside the house to watch the firework... until I was outside with GalaxyAngel for a first time to watch firework on 4th July 2007 but it's good thing is firework was far distance from me... I cannot walk near the firework...

I can climb the ladder up but can't go down.... I alway make sure that my hubby hold the ladder to get me go down...

I can't bear to look down from high height...

 

[Babyblue]

oh my god you must have been experiencing through it when no electricity/ac were on after you saw IT!! :Ohno: it was real bad. IT has been on my mind since i was a kid.


Yes i am afraid of CLOWN too but i can control myself when i see other clowns at the circus. :faint:

Recently we took kids out to the ringling bros circus. I was surprised to see the clowns that they wore more sparklings, and less freaky colors. They are into more of comic acts than old ones. i did laugh hard at the clowns how they acted were so hilarious. My fears were not bad but i know if i get close to the clowns and then my fear would be returned.

I'm not scared of clowns in general. I just think they are outright ugly. Now, the clown from "IT" is scary.

 

[typeingtornado19]

Same here. Especially my dad and his wife. They scare me. I am and always have been afraid of them. I avoid them at *all* costs. I make up excuses not to go back home to visit him and his wife, and when I am in town visiting my friends I don't tell them that I am in town. I avoid the far southside/Oak Creek area whenever I am in town since that is where they live. I spend most of my time on the north side or the lower east side. But I have not been back in town since around 2005 because I just do not have the money to do so.

I still remember seeing my dad's eyes when he is/was very angry, and that frightens me. His eyes turn very cold and a very steel blue with very tiny constricted black pupils. It made me feel very And that was over my re-arranging some of the family pictures in a multi-photo frame that he and his wife gave me shortly after I went into a foster home. I had rearranged them to include some pictures from my late mother's side of the family, since I felt they were important to me, too, and that made him very angry. When his eyes became that way, they sent cold chills down my spine, and I was very scared and frightened. Fortunately, there were too many witnesses at the place I was at, so he could not hit me or hurt me at that point, thankfully. But it scared me so much that, after he left, I put everything back in their original places so he would not get angry like that again. My dad and his wife have always frightened me no matter what the reason is. I felt like this with his eyes like that. They could also burn holes in me as well (not literally, but you know what I mean, the way they look).

I do not like angry people at all for that reason and if I see someone who looks angry I quickly walk or run in the opposite direction now. I do not like to feel every I see an angry person.

I'm sorry about your experience, i know its hard as i can completely relate to that one, except i cant usually see his eyes, its more his tone.